Hailey (the cat)and I head south in the winter to explore the back roads, deserts, coasts, forests, beaches, of the southern US! I 'graduated' from full time work, and have been enjoying the complete freedom ever since. I expect to be in southern climes during the winter times and all over Alberta and Canada during the summer. Come along for the ride. (Photo is of former co-pilot Harley).

Friday, April 14, 2017

Home, then on the road again!

Being back at home was nice – for a few days. Then reality struck like a winter snow storm. Okay, it actually was a winter snow storm. It went from only a few patches of snow on the ground to a winter wonderland in the matter of several hours.

Sure glad I spent all that time washing the truck …

In spite of all the snow, the local library was still open for business!

Not unlike the Bayfield Bunch, there was a bit of a reason why I ended up home so soon. Yes, it was getting too hot at Lake Havasu, and yes the snow at Whitmore hot springs area hastened my travel, but there was also a law firm that really wanted to hear from me! When their efforts to ‘compel’ my appearance seemed to be going nowhere, they changed tactics and tried the carrot on a stick approach. They actually offered to fly Hailey and I home from California, but eventually we agreed that they would pick up the tab for all my fuel if I returned in time for their court case. And they did. Then they paid all my expenses to travel from home to central BC for the case. I had planned to leave the fifth wheel behind and take the truck camper, but as luck would have it, they moved the case up a few days and I was stuck trying to put the camper on in the snow at –10C (25F).

So … earlier than expected, Hailey and I were back on the road!

Travel conditions were good, but there was lots of evidence of recent avalanche activity in the high mountain passes.

They got us a nice cat-friendly hotel room …

… but I knew we would both be more comfortable in the camper in a quiet location on the shore of a nearby lake. I was happy to use the shower in the hotel however as my truck camper does not have one, and was still winterized anyway.

I made my first appearance in Supreme Court of BC, with 6-7 lawyers, 2 court staff and a judge. No one else. All that to hear me read from my notes and tell them that I could not remember much about a traffic collision I was called out to attend – 9 years ago!

Once done with that, and nice expense cheques in hand, we were free to seek out new adventures. Unfortunately the weather in the whole area was cold and rainy. But after finding a nice riverfront spot along the West Kettle river, the sun did make a brief, partial appearance.

We headed south, down along the US border, through Grand Forks and Christina Lake, and Castlegar. I was headed for a very remote forest service campsite on the shore of Lower Arrow Lake, but it turned out to be much further than expected and the road conditions deteriorated enough that we just chose a deserted roadside spot with a nice view of the lake.

It was a very narrow, one lane road, clinging to the edge of the cliff in many areas.

Next, we headed down to Trail, BC, where I lived for a short time long ago.

And then we moved further south along the Columbia River to the US boundary to where the Pend Oreille river joins the Columbia after passing through two hydro dams in quick succession.

There is a one-lane bridge leading down to the 9-5 border crossing.

Weather was a mixed bag; mostly overcast, rain and cool. When the time came to depart, word came that road conditions on high Koootenay Pass were turning ugly, so we retraced our earlier route up through Castlegar, then on north through Silverton, New Denver and Nakusp. There are several hot springs in the back country in this area, but most are high elevation and the roads proved unfavourable for travel, so we pushed on across the Galena Bay ferry and up to Revelstoke for the night.

The ‘alarm cat’ woke me early in the morning, so we made it home again – just in time for the next round of snow storms ;-(

No ‘plans’ to go anywhere for a while, but with the camper already on – you just never know!